Thursday, February 23, 2012

MOHW Response Received

Folks,
This is the response from MOHW last night.  I was surprised at how quickly they responded to me this time.  However, MOHW was very careful not to reveal the date when they might start issuing the EPs, but their response should help all of you to understand what is going on, at least to a certain extent.  The recommendations have been made and they are waiting for an approval from the higher up.
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"...Currently, we have submitted our recommendations for the direction of issuing EPs and determination process and other issues for this year.  I wish to express my regrets in the delays in the EP process due to the impending impacts by the new adoption laws that will go into effect this year.
For all the concerned and waiting parents, it is our hope that in the future something could be worked out between the agencies to shorten the waiting periods between the time of referral and the time of granting EPs. 
Also starting this August, all adoptions will be handled through the Adoption Court, and there will be greater scrutiny in determining the qualification of adoptive parents. (See Steve’s Note 1 below)
 There is also an issue of adoptive parents’ responsibility in the US on obtaining the US Citizenships for their adopted children, and please explain to the parents how important this procedure is. (See Steve’s Note 2 below)
Even the US State Department got involved with the issue of long wait period and the issue of some adoptees not getting the US citizenships.  We are keenly aware of these problems and it is our hope to resolve them as soon as possible.
I thank you for your interest in adoption and your continued assistance to us."
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 Steve’s Note 1:  This does not apply to parents of intercountry adoption since there is already a thorough screening process in place through the adoption agencies in the US.  What MOHW means here by ‘greater scrutiny’ is that there are thousands (between 3000 – 5000) of ‘unofficial’ adoptions taking place within Korea with no home studies nor proper adoption process.  Often a verbal agreement is all that is needed to adopt, and this practice has resulted in very high number of adoption disruptions in Korea (i.e. 700 disruptions in a given year).  However, the domestic adoptions that have gone through the proper adoption process through Holt, Eastern, SWS and other smaller agencies, the disruption rate is less than 1%.   MOHW is now going to require all adoptive parents go through proper screening process to adopt children.
Steve’s Note 2:  Some adoptive parents either forget or ignore to apply for the US citizenship for their children.  There are some adult adoptees that have grown up in the US, only to find out later that they are not US citizens.  Some adult adoptees have run into the laws, and once these adoptees were reported to the immigration authority, they were deported to Korea.  MOHW is trying to stop this happening in the future.  Unfortunately, there are some adoptees living in Korea that were deported have joined anti-adoption organization and have spoken against intercountry adoption.  Parent, please do your thing.

59 comments:

  1. THANK YOU so much for keeping us updated. Any news is valuable at this point. I really hope things keep moving and EPs start quickly.

    Please keep us informed and keep taking action! You are a voice for all the children waiting for their forever homes.

    THANK YOU

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  2. Do you think they might wait until August to start the EP process and make everyone go through the courts?

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    1. No, definitely not. August issue is related to the implementation of the new adoption laws, and not related to issuing EP to the families that have already been matched with chidlren.

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    2. Whew! That is a much needed relief! Thanks!!

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    3. Thank you Steve!!!!!

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing this with waiting parents. I think you are becoming a lifeline of information for many.

    I will note that since the child citizenship act of 2000, our Korean-born children do become citizens upon finalization of the adoption. I do think parents still have a responsibility to obtain a certificate of citizenship at some point, so that their children can always present that as ultimate proof of citizenship. http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1312.html#6

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  4. Who is the higher person that needs to give approval?

    I can't be one of the first families to appear in family court with 5 children already living in my home and no family waiver!!!!

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  5. Thank you so much Steve for your advocacy, your heart for justice and righteousness. We so need more people like you in the world.

    I am so grateful that our children in Korea (such a beautiful country and wonderful people) are taking care of our babies. I'm grateful for the people in the orphanages and the foster parents. Our kiddos are being taken care of and I'm grateful for it. I continue to pray for all the kids to come home. My heart breaks for those of you who have been waiting so long. Your babies will come home!
    "For I, the Lord, love justice"-Isaiah 61
    "One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: 'Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love';-Psalm 62

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  6. I am so thankful that you are advocating for the children (and this time even for us, though I know we have no reason to be advocated for). I really appreciate the Ministry's prompt and friendly response. It helps to know a little about what is going on. I definitely understand getting the COC and I'm sad that it's been ignored in the past. I can only imagine how hurt someone would be to be told not only were you brought to this country but you're not even a citizen. :(

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  7. This only seems to get worse and worse. From this response it seems that MOHW requires approval from somewhere else before things can move, and we have no idea where that somewhere else is. So the idea of mid-Feb, to Feb, to March is all pie in the sky if the decision is coming from somewhere else anyway.

    Shame on those adoptive parents who didn't follow through on their responsibilities to finalize the adoptions. But in their efforts to not have people get deported when they commit crimes later in life, they're sacrificing the well being of infants who will inevitably have a higher instance of emotional and bonding issues for the rest of their lives.

    This all stinks.

    But like everybody else who visits your board, I thank you Steve for passing along what you know and dealing with us angry waiting parents. We get more out of your work than we do out of the agencies that we've handed our life savings over to.

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    1. I also want to say thanks so much to you Steve!!

      I don't get their issue with immigration, though. For years, once adoptions are final, the children automatically become US citizens. The adults who have been deported are under the old laws, where you had to apply for citizenship even after adoptions became final. So, I'm not sure where they are coming from with the citizenship issue.


      Thanks again!!

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    2. The adoptees also have some responsibility. If you are an adult you should know where your citizenship status is. As an adoptee myself, I have needed the certificate many times to prove citizenship. Also, like many have said, the law changed many years ago anyway. Perhaps first the MOHW wants to check up on all 200,000+ KADs in the US? The children are granted citizenship autotmatically and have been for over 10 yrs now.

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  8. Thank you so much for sharing this correspondence. It means so much to me. I'm so glad you're able to contact the ministry on our behalf. The only news we get from our agency is the sound of crickets chirping.

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  9. Thank you so much Steve

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  10. Thank you Steve again for your efforts...you are such a blessing to us. Do these new laws affect the families who haven't gotten a referral yet? Or do you think the new laws will impact mainly domestic adoption or just the Korean Heritage families?

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    1. The new laws will impact mainly domestic adoption in Korea. However, the laws will have some impact on intercountry adoption. For example, the new laws will require that there be seven days of waiting period before a birthmother can sign away parental rights. Currently most of the birthmothers sign away before giving births. The new law is designed to give the birthmothers chance to raise their own children if they choose to. The new laws will probably not expressly define any privileges for Korean Heritage families, but this is mainly a policy decided at MOHW level.

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    2. Steve, First, thank you so much for your continued efforts to help bring our children home. You do so much more for us than our own agencies do. I feel better knowing that there is someone out there that really has the best interest of our children at hear. I have a question following up on your response above. Do you anticipate that the MOHW will come out with whatever guidelines they plan to employ with respect to Korean Heritage families at the time the details about the new laws are released? My agency is saying that because they have not gotten an official word from the MOHW that Korean Heritage families are to be "expedited" (if 12 months between referral and travel should ever be considered expedited), that they would not be honoring the promise they made to process the adoptions in 12 months. I just want to know what to expect.

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    3. I think the point is that no one knows what to expect at this point.

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    4. I agree I had my husband read this and he thought it was good news. I asked how could this be good news? He asked me if I knew what good news looked like anymore.:(

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  11. I'm confused by this new update. While I am encouraged that it appears our children WILL come home eventually, I don't get a good feeling at all about the EP situation or when it will start again. It doesn't seem like getting these children home is even close to a priority. How is this update positive? HOw long will this approval take? What if the higher ups don't approve their recommendations, does it go back to the drawing board for 5more months? Why are they still hashing out their issues about COC's, I thought they got that figured out in June/July with the last hold-up. All the children coming home now will be citizens at finalization. Why are these children and their families being used as pawns in some political game to change laws that were (or were not) in effect 20 years ago. Just doesn't make sense.

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    1. It is my understanding that not everyone was finalizing, and the hold up last summer was to get statistics on how many where finalizing. The law is probably on figuring out how to ensure that all will finalizes.

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  12. I find it incredibly comforting that the Ministry responded so quickly. It's so hard to understand why EP's haven't been submitted and WHY someone WON'T just do it already! Even though we still don't understand the details of the hold up, I appreciate the response and it tells me that the Ministry cares about our children. I've succomb to the fact that I should have no expectations until I receive word that our son's paperwork has been submitted. I believe everyone is doing their best and I want to give the MOHW my prayers and most positive thoughts that they receive the support they need to handle all the complexities of their role in adoption. I can't imagine what a stressful job that would be. For now, I am grateful for my son's foster family and their continued love for him.

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  13. Steve, thank you very much. You are a lifeline in a sea of uncertainty.

    It is nice that MOHW responded so quickly; although remarkably nonspecific.

    As hard as I look into this, I still fail to see any connection with future adoption laws and the Lives of these current children that have referrals and are held captive waiting for an EP. How does this help anyone? It causes a world of hurt to everyone involved.

    Do you think any agencies are still taking prospective parents applications for int'l adoptions. We recieved our referral 12mos ago. Are they still giving referrals ?

    THANKS SO MUCH !!!

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    1. Yes, agencies are STILL giving out referrals, and I know of one agency that sent 5 homestudies to Korea just last week. Perhaps they are more optimistic than the rest of us, but it seems really irresponsible until we know for sure how this is all going to play out.

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    2. Our agency claims they are still doing referrals, but I haven't seen movement at all from the people I have connected with who are "next" in line. I suspect they are not actually handing out referrals. I do know our agency is still taking new applications for Korea and I believe this to be very irresponsible and it doesn't make sense.

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  14. Steve,
    Thank you for your tireless efforts in advocating for children in need of parents. I am amazed at how effortlessly the MOHW avoids answering the one and only question we are desperately seeking the answer to. Your dedication to weeding through the politics of the situation for the greater good is commendable. I am grateful to you, and for you!

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  15. Mr. Morrison,

    Thank you so very much for this information, and for your efforts on behalf of kids and families. I wondered about the letter's wording, " we have submitted our recommendations for the direction of issuing EPs and determination process and other issues for this year". I had presumed that the MOHW was the decision-making body for this issue; do you know to whom they are submitting the recommendations, or anything about how that process happens? Thanks again.

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  16. Is it just me but I am confused with the response. In the US at least new policies by the government or getting anything through can take forever. Who is above making the decisions that they are waiting on? President? I totally get waiting for policies to get in place but this is wait is insane. I am so confused.

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  17. Thank you for the update. I am trying to see all the positives in it but it does still scare me that there is no clear answer on when EPs will get started. I will continue to pray that they separate the issues and get these babies home.

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  18. Thanks, Steve, for all you do for us. This is a very non-specific response, but it's better than nothing. Do we know who the higher authority is? Can we exert any pressure there? If our own government's State Department can't get this resolved, using American pressure, that worries me. We're in CA and in this state, and I suspect in all 50, once the state court finalizes the adoption, the child is a citizen. A Certificate of Citizenship is not required (but is probably a good idea). So, as another poster here said, using old laws and old adoptions to justify current issues and to use current children as pawns is irresponsible by the Korean government. In fact, it's reprehensible. And, most importantly, it's not fair to the kids. You (the readers and Steve) may want to contact the US Embassy in Seoul to express your concerns and to demand that the US government become more involved in an issue that affects as many US citizens as it does (both those waiting for EP's and those waiting for a referral. The direct email address is SeoulInfo@state.gov. Obviously, Korea is a sovereign nation and the US government can only do so much; on the other hand, the military and economic security of Korea depends on the United States, and that fact alone should be sufficient leverage for our government to use (we're pretty sure that adoption is not a major priority for our government, but you never know). What would be really nice is for the Ministry to come out and say that once they have whatever additional approvals they feels they need, that they will temporarily waive the quota to "catch up" on all those waiting for EP's. At least that gets the process moving and those still waiting for referrals could conceivable "move up" on the list. As another poster said, it's totally irresponsible for US agencies to continue to take applications for Korean adoptions when so much is uncertain. Finally, from a purely financial perspective, the adoption tax credit changes drastically (downward) in 2013 and given finalization times, many of us might not make it. In any event, Steve, if you know who this higher authority is and if there is any pressure to be politely, but firmly, exerted, please let us know and what we can do, if anything. And you tell us more than our agency, and it sounds like other agencies, which seem totally impotent to do anything and are totally useless in this situation. Thx.

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    1. I don't think contacting the Embassy directly is a good idea at all, and in fact many agencies have explicit written agreements we must sign saying we will never do just that or risk losing our referral. I know our agency did. Additionally, any mention of taxes is insulting. When we were in Korea for my son's adoption we were actually asked if we were adopting our child to benefit our tax situation because many Koreans thought that was one of the major reasons why we do it. I was shocked that this was even thought of! We don't qualify for it, so it never even crossed my mind, but bringing it up in discussion about why your child needs to come home soon would be detrimental to the image of American adopters. just fyi.

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    2. I hope you have a soft landing when you fall off your high horse.

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    3. This poster says "the military and economic security of Korea depends on the United States, and that fact alone should be sufficient leverage for our government to use"

      Are you saying the US should threaten the financial and physical security of Korea in order to get Korean babies to come to the US? You want to endanger Korean civilians and the country as a whole, so you can get your baby? Shame on you! As much as you are suffering, that's no excuse to even make such a suggestion. I'm sad to think you're even adopting from Korea by making such a callous statement about the welfare of the country.

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    4. Wow. That is one entitlement-laden comment. Contacting the embassy directly is not a good idea. Using your potential personal financial gain to leverage the process is also not a good idea. As to the notion of doing away with EPs and processing all waiters right away: can you imagine the amount of work that would create for the Korean placing agencies/social workers/guest houses? They would have to prepare hundreds of children for placement, all at once. Try to think beyond your own "needs" as an adoptive parent.

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    5. I agree with the posters above. The Korean government and people don't owe us these children. If they decided to close the program tomorrow (which I hope to God would never happen) they could. We are not entitled to anything. I want this process to proceed as fast as possible and it sucks to feel so powerless, but we have to be patient and trust that the Korean government ultimately wants these children to be raised by families. Hang in there, but please don't do anything rash that could jeopardize the process for us all. Let the officials work it out.

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    6. Steve -- I appreciate that you are so involved in a process that is so difficult to navigate. Even some insight into the process helps. I realize this is not official info. Does Korea ever have official info published? Where would it be? What is the last official announcement? The July 1 announcement in the Korean Times?

      As far as the statement, I look at this whole situation as:
      What would be done in Korea? And are we being treated even close?
      Korean citizens would NEVER stand for this. IF a Korean had to wait this long to adopt domestically there would be like 2 adoptions a year. The govt made up of Koreans is asking those outside of their country to do what their own citizens would never do. A Korean inside the country would LAUGH at the absurdity of waiting this long to adopt a child.

      We deserve just a little bit of consideration. As noted in the note - Koreans themselves have 700 disruptions in adoption a year domestically. The US doesn't even have 700 EPs a year. The disruption rate of international adoption is extremely low with a very long history. As the Japanese process management philosophy says: STOP the line for a tiny thing makes no sense in a process.

      Their comment - We are waiting for approval shows several things. #1. The person responding is not willing to give any real information. I would have liked to even see, if approved, we feel that this wait will begin to reduce in the next several months or a month or in 1 day or even by the end of the year. Yet there is no mention of if what they have submitted will even get these waiting children home. This leaves tons of room open for when no/few children leave - we do not know who or why. It could be the approving party, it could be the MOHW, it could be anything. #2. There is another approval body/person. It was my impression the MOHW was in charge. Who is approving ? The head of the MOHW? I am not even sure who is speaking for this but I would assume someone who is close to the process. #3. Like any "approval" there is the option of Approve in full; Modify; Reject; or any interim decision. Plus unless there is a high level of collaboration between approval and working bodies; things are always modified. I have worked in negotiation a long time. And one thing is pretty obvious; there is not a high level of cooperation around this process. I find this "We're done; we wait for approval" a very - its not MY fault; we handed it off kind of statement. IF this is true , who is accountable and that is where a statement is required from.

      And finally my thought is - a communication of date does not restart the bar. I saw a comment that we have only been waiting or 2 weeks as they said EPs in Feb. No. People have been waiting since the announcement LAST JUNE when EPs were announced and it became clear that most referrals of 2011 would not come home in 2011. Even some referrals in 2010. So people have been waiting since 2010 with the expectation of mid 2011. The wait is considerably long from referral. If anything, I believe the law should be changed in Korea that a child may not be referred until the child is available to leave the country. The family should be FULLY APPROVED by time they are allowed to wait.

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    7. You know , Korea hosted the entire Winter Olympics and had THOUSANDS of people come to Korea in just 2 weeks. Seoul can handle it. I bet any family who has been waiting so long would do WHATEVER IT WOULD TAKE to ensure there was as little disruption to the agencies and people. The bottom line is this? What is the value of getting these children placed ? You know I bet if there were this many LG TVS waiting for export and not getting an export permit; Koreans would be UP IN ARMS.

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    8. Did you seriously just compare my son to a TV? I should hope that Korea is more careful about placing a child in a home than they are about exporting TV's. Please don't make comments like this.

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    9. That is the point. If our children were only that important.

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    10. I think that some misunderstood the purpose of the above post. No one is on a high horse and even if they were, it would be justified. Some people are not passive and take action where action is needed, and given the apparent ineptitude of the US agencies that many have commented on in various posts on this site, perhaps it is in fact time that someone stood up and demanded answers. It's not about the taxes or personal financial gain (it was just an FYI - nothing more). Certainly the children are the most important thing. No question. People have and continue to contact the Embassy and in general, they have been sympathetic and have tried to help to the very limited degree that they can. No one is going to post those names in a public forum due to the sensitivity of the issue, but some people have had private dialogue offline about this. And, no one (I don't think) is comparing a TV to a child; it's the principle of fair play that I think a reply (to the original post) poster made. Insofar as the military and economic security of Korea: you can't play by different rules than everyone else. With all respect - Korea as it stands today would not even be a nation without the United States. It's all fine and dandy that we support them and they have generally been an ally. But to turn around and treat US citizens like this is not acceptable. Pure and simple. No one is ever seriously going to threaten the economic and military security of Korea that the United States provides. However, terms of our agreements could be changed such that they are no longer as favorable. In the end, this is about a culture that is based on honor - that honor is being seriously tarnished by this behavior; it's about fair play; and, most importantly, it's about the kids. No reasonable person could seriously argue that this process, as it currently stands, is good for the kids. The point of the original poster, above, I think, was to just point out how unbalanced the situation is, how it affects the kids, and how it might affect families in any number of ways. I didn't read it as comparing a TV to a kid or just doing this for tax purposes. I read it as informational and one person's opinion. For us, this is our second adoption from Korea and our first was smooth - this is crazy. People will have differing opinions, which is great. We don't all have to agree.

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    11. Let's be serious. This is very important to us. But in the grand scheme of the whole world and US relations with Korea, it's not very high on the importance scale. And let's take a broader look at international adoption programs around the world today. There are problems in many programs. Check out the issues with the Ethiopia program. Remember what happened with the Guatemala program? China's traditonal program has a 5+ year wait for referral. Remember when Russia shut down - and that program is still very shakey right now. There are issues with Ukraine (I know a family that anticipated 6 weeks in country and was there for 2 1/2 months for no good reason). Don't think that Korea is the only country that is having issues. The US can't just step in to another country and tell them how to run their programs. They just don't have the authority. And nor do we want them doing that. Or even stepping up and "demanding" answers. The program is not shut down and even if it was, it's their decision to make. The US should not be a bully that tries to get what they want just because a hand full of citizens have to wait a few more months than anticipated.

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    12. We think everyone here is serious. And as the original poster rightly pointed out, it's not a very high priority on the issues list between the two nations. Our information is that this is more than an "handful" of US families; it's in the many hundreds waiting for an EP and many thousands waiting for a referral. Perhaps others here have different information? And, while other nations have issues, one of the reasons many people choose Korea is due to the (past) lack of issues. In our experience, it's widely known that these other countries have issues, so people should be cautious in dealing with them. In addition, changing the rules midstream for those already well into the process is simply not acceptable. And, the US can do whatever it wants - if the world wants the US to bail them out, police problem areas under the guise of the UN (and not be reimbursed for the massive expense that this is and that this nation can no longer afford), provide economic, food, and military assistance, and enter into free trade agreements to benefit other nations (to the detriment of our own - just look at the sorry state of our current economy), then yes, the US, in our view, has the right to be a bit of a bully if that's what's necessary. The rest of the world can't have it both ways when it comes the US. That's our view, and others can disagree. We agree with the premise of the original poster. Maybe that's xenophobic or nationalistic - perhaps and perhaps not. Obviously, no one wants to bully anyone as a first choice option; we think we all just want commitments honored in a fair way. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less. And of course of paramount importance (goes without saying) is the well being of the children. Honoring these commitments benefits everyone, especially the children, and harms no one. There's no downside for Korea to honor these commitments, especially if it's explained to the Korean people in a way that makes sense and is sensitive to internal political issues. This post is not intended to create anger; it's just the view of one family. Feel free to agree or to disagree.

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  19. Not to be weird, but the Ministry has not said no; it's just not said when. If and when we get a definitive no, we shouldn't be thinking like that. The lack of information is what's making us all crazy, and Steve Morrison is the only person right now with a line to the MOHW. It's human nature to go crazy, become anxious, and want to do something when we are not given facts and information. But they have not said no. They give no indication of saying no.

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    1. Exactly. It's impossible not to let your emotions and mind wander to catastrophic thinking but we need to keep it together. There is no reason to assume the worst case scenario. Right now we are hurting and want to see our children, but the negative comments on this blog are not helping anyone's situation. Can we please refocus our energy on loving our children from afar and supporting a country that is beautiful and cherishes it's children. If we want Steve to continue to gain information for us we need to thank him for what he can offer and leave it at that.

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    2. I agree. We all are suffering with this wait- we've been waiting 14 months on our son. It's hard, and painful, and discouraging to get little to no information on what's happening. Steve has been a lifeline with the encouragement and information he's managed to share. And we are totally grafteful for that.
      It is an extremly personal and painful process right now. However- we still have to keep things in persepective: we aren't the ONLY ones struggling with this wait and issue here. It's hard on the US agencies; having to manage and constantly refocus the expectations of their families. And, with no direct link to Korea, they are literally the front-line in hearing the discouragement and disappointment from adoptive parents. It's hard on the Korean agencies; having to manage the health and well-being of all of those children for so much longer, maintaining contact with all of the foster families and children's homes, and making sure all of the legal documents are taken care of properly. Not to mention passing on individual information on each child to US agencies. It's a BIG job, one I can't even imagine all the details to. And then the MOHW. Adoption isn't the only area they are responsible for, and while it IS the most important thing to us, they are coming from a different place than we are. They are responsible for good decisions that will impact an entire country, not only our children. Korea is playing catch-up in the adoption front, trying to comply with all the Hague stuff. They are trying to aid these children, in the face of very loud opposition to international adoption within Korea. They do value the lives of our little ones. Other wise, they would just bow to public pressure and stop the program all together. (I believe it's a small group in opposition, but they are loud and very public, so they get a lot of press and attention both in Korea and globally)
      I hate this wait, it's to the point now where our son almost doesn't seem real. However, I respect and appreciate the Korean government for allowing us to adopt one of their little ones. I'm grateful that they do value these children and are trying to work it out- rather than sticking them all in some far-off orphanage and erasing their futures and abilities to have a chance at a family. I don't expect the Korean government to act like the US government. It's a different world, with different systems and cultural expectations, and we have to respect them as such. As hard as it is, Korea does not OWE me my child- so I must wait on them.
      I wish we didn't have to wait, and I wish we had more concrete answers. But right now, it is what it is, and we must hold tight until the EPs begin to flow and we can see all the changes that are coming. It's not wrong to be upset about the wait- but let's be grateful that we are even able to be in this adoption process, that we even have babies waiting for us, and that they are being so well cared for in Korea while they wait.

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  20. Beautifully said, and I think you have summed up how the majority of us feel.

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  21. It is true that the Korean government did not owe any of us a child. However, since they had an international adoption program and allowed the agencies to accept our applications, etc., they certainly had a contract with us. We all fulfilled our part of that contract. They now should be expected to fulfill their part. Yes, they are not the U.S. government, but they can reasonably be expected to keep their promises. If we believed we were dealing with a culture that did not honor commitments, I don't think we would be saying all the positive things most of are saying about Korea. We do have a positive image of Korea or we wouldn't have ever decided that we wanted to adopt children there. It is reasonable for us to want answers to our questions and concerns. It is possible to feel grateful for the good things that our children have in their native land and still want them to be with us sooner rather than later. And it seems reasonable that we would try to do whatever we can to make that happen. I think what we all want at this point is just to know what that is.

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    1. I third that. You said it perfectly. We do have a right to be upset. It'd be weird if we weren't. I do agree that though Korea "owes" us nothing ... we did enter into a formal contract. It's awkward to speak like this bc we're speaking about humans and it's inevitable we'll get the "my child is not a TV" statement. But we do have a contract.

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    2. I agree, we all have the right to be upset. I don't think anyone would expect us to feel any differently, and if they do than they clearly don't understand what it means to be an adoptive parent. I'm going crazy over this and I want my daughter home! However, we don't really have any sort of contract with Korea (or even a Korean agency) at all and they have ZERO obligation to us. We have an agreement with an American adoption agency that facilitates adoptions (via another agency) in Korea. Our "contract" with our agency was very clear that there are no guarantees with international adoptions and programs can change without notice and countries can close without warning. We have a contract with them, not Korea. Honestly I don't know if the Korean government really even knows how many children are matched with a family waiting until they are submitted for EP (though I could be completely wrong on this). I think the statement "it is our hope that in the future something could be worked out between the agencies to shorten the waiting periods between the time of referral and the time of granting EPs" is very telling to that end. It sounds like MOHW is saying the agencies need to be responsible in the way they give out referrals so there isn't a backlog. I honestly won't breathe easy about any of this until my daughter is home and her adoption is finalized. I am hoping we ALL hear good news soon!

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    3. The problem is, at least in our case, our agency *knew* about this issue and didn't disclose it. So, that makes (per counsel) the statement about no guarantees moot. It's called fraud. Hopefully, we don't have to go down that road. But to hold harmless the American agencies is ludicrous.

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    4. South Korea doesn't owe us anything..However they do owe their children, South Korean citzens a chance to live with a family.

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  22. I too would like to advocate that we don't allow anger to drive our actions. And even without anger, any attempts we might make to put pressure on the system seem to have just a good of a chance of backfiring.

    Like all of us, I'm very frustrated at the bureaucracy that is keeping children from their assigned families. And I think it is completely accurate to say that it is wrong. It is not in the best interests of the children, and there are always things that could have been done to prevent it. I'm not going to put blind faith in the system that has made the transitions for these kids harder. At the same time, I don't think this means I have to hate the Ministry as the "enemy". Whatever mistakes they've made, they're still working, however slowly and privately, at getting our children home. And I can't believe that they don't care or that there are no individuals that care.

    So let's continue to pray for our children, pray for the Korean government, and pray for each other. And let's thank God for Steve and anyone else that can keep this issue from being forgotten. My wife and I are fasting and praying for these things every Thursday until our son comes home. Feel free to join us.

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    1. Thank you very much for your prayers and fasting. I wish that more Americans would turn their hearts to God. But glad to see that there are people who are taking this matter to God and praying for all the children that need to come home, and for all the families that are waiting with anguish. I have been praying that God will touch the people at MOHW to release the children soon. But I haven't thought about fasting, and I think that is a good idea. Thank you.

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  23. I agree, fasting is a good idea. Ultimately we should petition the Lord. He is the One who knows the times and the days. And He is always on time.

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  24. Love the idea of fasting!!! Since becoming apart of the Korean adoption world, a few years ago.I have been so impressed of the family feeling I have felt. SATAN is loving every minute of driving a wedge between us with this ridiculous situation. We must be strong for our children. We must stick together. Our children WILL COME HOME!!!

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  25. Steve,
    Is there anything we can learn or project about future Korean adoptions (EPs) from looking at what happended with the China slowdown 4-5 yrs ago. I know Chinese adoption waits went from 6mos to 4yrs at one point. I don't know the details.
    Did Chinese adoptions slow down because of the Quotas like Korea is imposing?
    thanks for any input. i am just trying to make some sense of it. My main concern is that our first child from Korea was 10mos and did so great, and now our 2nd child likey will be 24mos or greater. Unfair to create this adjustment difficulty just to abide by arbitrary quotas.

    Thanks in advance. I really respect your input and prospective.

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    1. I'm pretty sure that with China, the situation went from a large number of healthy baby girls to only a small number of baby girls available. So, referrals slowed WAY down. Once matched, I don't think there is much of a delay with China. Thus, the waiting child/special needs program in China is still going strong but those waiting for a healthy baby girl have been waiting for quite some time.

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